GOP Wants Top Line On Ballot In November; Malloy Won With Votes From Two Parties

The state made a mistake last year when Democrats were listed on the top line of the ballot in municipal elections, top Republicans said Thursday.

Although Democrat Dannel P. Malloy won the race for governor in 2010, he did it with a combination of votes from both the Democratic Party and the union-backed Working Families Party. As a result, Republican Tom Foley captured more votes on the Republican line than Malloy captured on the Democratic line.

The top party on the line is normally the party of the winning candidate for governor, but the Republicans now want that reversed because of Foley’s vote count.

“We believe we have a solid case to make that Republican candidates for office this fall should be placed first, based on the results of the 2010 gubernatorial election,” House GOP leader Larry Cafero of Norwalk said. “We have case law to support our position.”

Av Harris, a spokesman for Secretary of the State Denise Merrill, said that state officials are studying the issue and will issue a response Friday. A legal team gathered after receiving the Republican request on Thursday that included Merrill, deputy Secretary of the State Jamie Spallone, other top officials, and several staff attorneys.

“We take the issue very seriously,” Harris told Capitol Watch on Thursday. “Our Secretary of the State’s role is to be the chief commissioner of elections in the state of Connecticut. We have to approve all of the ballots. It’s one of our primary responsibilities.”

To back up their case, Republicans cited the election of Republican Governor George Pataki in New York State in 1994. Pataki defeated incumbent Governor Mario Cuomo, but only after the votes of the Republican and Conservative Party lines were added together. As a Democrat, Cuomo captured more votes on his line than Pataki did on the Republican line.

For the next four years, the Democrats held the top spot on the ballot in New York State.

“For purposes of balloting, we should be on the top line,’’ Cafero said in an interview. “Mario Cuomo had the most on the Democratic line. … We are stating that the Secretary of the State got it wrong in 2011.’’

Harris, though, said there are differences between the statutes in New York and Connecticut. The New York decision was not made by the Secretary of the State’s office and was apparently an administrative decision by the New York State board of elections.

Merrill is a Democrat who was elected in the statewide election at the same time as Malloy in November 2010.

If Merrill rules against the Republicans, Harris said they would have the right to file a lawsuit over the issue.

“It’s pretty normal for our office to get sued during an election year,” Harris said. “If they feel that determination aggrieves them in any way or does them harm, of course they can seek redress in the courts. That would be true if anybody was upset with any determination we made.”